MSc Precision Medicine & Pharmacological Innovation

Precision medicine and pharmacological innovation holds huge potential in the timely development of new treatments for human disease. It is among the most important concepts to emerge in 21st century clinical science and will be a crucial component of the global drive to increase the efficacy, safety and cost effectiveness of new treatments.

This new taught postgraduate Masters programme draws on the current and future needs of the Life Sciences sector, to create a highly skilled workforce and is being developed in conjunction with the industrial partners of the Stratified Medicine Scotland Innovation Centre (SMS-IC).

It harnesses Scotland’s strengths in stratified medicine, clinical trials, bioinformatics and pharmacogenomics to provide focused training which integrates basic and clinical sciences, and equips students with grounding in the essential skills required to design, execute and evaluate modern clinical interventions.

WHY THIS PROGRAMME

• Students will be given the unique opportunity to undertake an industry placement as their main project. This fantastic opportunity will be offered by partner commercial organisations/companies and universities.
• The programme will cover aspects of commercial innovation and entrepreneurial skills, together with the principles which underpin the emerging science at the interface between genetics and pharmacology.
• Students on the programme will undergo theoretical and practical training in state-of-the-art research processes, enabling an appreciation of how to apply novel stratified approaches, together with clinical pharmacological, regulatory and ethical principles to the optimisation of future clinical research and therapeutic practice.
• Students will also gain an understanding of statistical methods used to evaluate the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of new treatments, and direct experience of how all of these techniques are applied by academic and industrial researchers in the development of new medicines.
• Following successful completion of the programme a joint master’s degree will be awarded.
• The five stakeholder universities, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Strathclyde, Dundee and Edinburgh are internationally recognised as leaders in biomedical research, hosting highly collaborative and productive groups with the requisite expertise in pharmacology, clinical trial methodology, pharmacogenomics, and life sciences. This vibrant environment, coupled with Scotland’s tradition of excellence in clinical research and significant recent investment in the new science of Stratified Medicine make it the ideal place to acquire the transferrable skills required for a successful and fulfilling career in 21st century biomedicine.

CAREER PROSPECTS

Graduates will be able to pursue careers in a variety of academic and industrial areas including clinical research, preclinical lab-based research, business development with expert knowledge in life sciences and bioinformatics/biostatistics.